Chapter Five

“What were you two thinking!?”

I sat sheepishly beside Aiden as Dr. Joe Kawalibai paced back and forth in front of us. Aiden’s prosthetic was re-attached to his leg, the plastic and metal just peeking out from the hem of his jeans. I couldn’t stop staring at it.

Nurse Becky was checking Aiden all over for any injuries, and he sat with an annoyed expression throughout all of it. Aiden glanced in my direction and I quickly looked away.

He hasn’t said anything about his “accident” not being an “accident” since we were found.

Shortly after Aiden’s confession, a nurse turned down the hall and saw us, letting out a gasp before she ran back the way she came. Within seconds, Doc and Becky came rushing towards us and escorted us back to our room. Becky found my crutches for me while another nurse carried Aiden’s fake leg.

Doc stopped pacing and turned to face me, raising his eyebrow. “Well?”

I fiddled with the sleeves of my sweater. “We were just having fun.”

“Fun?” he echoed, making me flinch slightly. “Do you not realize that you are under intensive care? Did we not just talk about how important it is for you to stop getting injured?”

I flicked my eyes nervously to Aiden, who was watching me intently. “Doc…”

“Fifteen times Julie.” He breathed, as if the negative energy from his body drained away, and left him physically drained.

“I know.” I said quietly, my eyes trained to the floor.

“And you.” Doc said, directing his attention to Aiden. “I was not expecting something like this from you, of all the people.”

“It wont happen again, I promise.”

“Are you sure about that?” I could feel Doc’s eyes on me. After a moment, he sighed. “Get some rest. We will follow up with you two in the morning.”

He left with purpose, leaving Becky stranded behind, who looked at us with concern.

“Oh, don’t mind him.” She said, trying out a smile. “He treats you as if you two were his children. He’s just worried, is all.”

I gave her a weak smile. “Not very professional, huh?”

She bilked, not expecting my question. “I guess not.” She looked down at her hands that were folded neatly in front of her, but then smiled as she glanced at us. “But who can help it?”

On that note, Becky smoothed the creases in her skirt and walked briskly out, her heels clinking against the tiled floor. Once she was gone, I released the breath I must have been holding and hoisted myself up, grabbing my crutches that were leaning against the wall, placed them under my arms, and walked slowly towards my side of the room, over the invisible line.

“You never told me.”

I glanced behind me at Aiden, who was still sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Told you what?”

“Why you are here.”

I was hoping this conversation wouldn’t come up. “It’s from an accident.” Was all I could say.

Aiden frowned at that, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Really?”

“Yeah really.”

He slowly stood up, and walked towards me. All I could focus on was the lift of his prosthetic leg; how he had to raise it slightly higher to avoid his stiff foot from dragging against the floor; how long that step was, compared the quick step of his good leg.

He stopped once he was in front of me, forcing my eyes back up to his face.

“I think by the fifteenth hospital trip shows that it’s not the case at all.”

I glared at him. “And you would know?”

He said nothing.

I rolled my eyes, and stepped around him to my dresser.

“What is your problem?”

“What’s my problem?” I snap, spinning around to face him. “What’s yours?”

“Don’t make this about me.”

“Well it is.” I took a step towards him. “What happened to your leg Aiden?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Like hell. Something obviously happened if half your leg is missing!”

Aiden’s jaw rippled, before he spun around and walked back towards his side of the room.

I followed closely behind. “What, did Peter Pan feed it to the crocodile? Did you chop it off like that guy did in 127 Hours?”

He ignored me, slipping his football jacket off his shoulders and throwing it on his chair.

 I grabbed his arm and spun him around, focusing my eyes on his. “What happened Aiden?”

He stared blankly into my eyes, revealing nothing. I was about to give up when he finally spoke.

“Tell me what happened to you first.”

My breath hitched my throat. There was no escaping it now.

“I uh,” I swallowed thickly. “I got hit by a car.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “So it was an accident?”

I let out a breath. “No.”

Something flickered in his eyes. Concern, curiosity, I don’t know. I didn’t want him to think about it.

“So,” I tucked a stand of my hair behind my ear. “Now you.”

He stared at me, his jaw flexing slightly as he tried to keep his face neutral.

“I had this thing at the top of my tibia,” he said. “It was eating my leg away from the inside. The only way to stop it was amputation.”

A breath escaped from my lips, but he wasn’t done.

He closed his eyes for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows before he flicked his eyes open again. He let out a breath.

“I have Osteosarcoma.” He said, his eyes never leaving mine. “It’s a type of bone cancer.”